Manufacture of footwear



1, 1967 P. A. GARCIA 3,333,353

MANUFACTURE OF FOOTWEAR Fild July 10, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 1, 1957 P. A. GARCIA MANUFACTURE OF FOOTWEAR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 10, 1964 United States Patent 3,333,353 MANUFACTURE 0F FOOTWEAR Pedro Arnau Garcia, Calls de las Flores 5, Barcelona, Spain Filed July 10, 1964, Ser. No. 381,678 Claims priority, application Great iiritain, July 19, 1963, 28,797/63 1 Claim. (Cl. 36-68) This invention relates to the manufacture of boots, shoes and like footwear.

The invention aims to facilitate the manufacture of such footwear by reducing the number of separate elements involved in stiffening or reinforcing the structure of the footwear, to simplify assembly on the last and to enable a better-fitting article of footwear to be produced, and the invention concerns certain improvements in or modifications of the stiffener described and claimed in British Patent No. 939,387

According to the present invention, I provide a combined insole waist and heel stiffener for use in the manufacture of boots, shoes and like footwear, which has been moulded from a synthetic plastic material and has set to form a unit with a stiff reinforced or unreinforced arched base constituting the heel seat and insole waist and with a resilient heel wall or counter which also extends along the sides of the instep and is such as to form an abnormally small top opening the average width of which in the heel region is not substantially greater than one-half the maximum internal width of the stifiener in the heel region, the said wall in cross section gradually reducing in thickness to the top opening and rising outwardly from the periphery of the base so that its inner surface makes a smooth curve therefrom and then curving inwardly around the sides of the heel and the instep to the top opening, this cross-sectional shaping extending from the heel at least to substantially the nar rowest part of the base and the top opening gradually widening forwardly from the heel region, the said wall requiring elastic expansion before any normal foot can seat properly on the arched base in order to give to the footwear embodying the stiffener the property of elastically gripping around the heel and forwardly thereof into the instep region and to preserve the original shape of the footwear.

What I have termed the insole waist is sometimes called the shank and is intended to mean that part of the insole extending forwardly from the heel and to the region of the front of the instep.

The stiffener according to the invention is preferably moulded from polyethylene.

The unit is particularly suitable for shoes, especially ladies court shoes, and the combined unit may embody a stiffening shank, e.g., of metal and particularly steel, or other material stiffer than the plastic material, and the latter may be moulded to form a thick base which embeds and surrounds the shank. The stiffening shank may extend along the whole or part of the insole waist and into the heel seat or base, i.e., the part which underlies the base of the wearers heel. The shank may serve as the member to which is fixed the heel of the shoe, by which for the purpose of this specification we mean the part of the shoe which raises the heel seat of the shoe from the ground.

The improved stiffener not only obviates the presence of separate components for stiffening the insole waist and heel of the shoe but the unit involves only a single assembly operation where previously different assembling operations were required, and moreover it gives to the heel of the shoe embodying it a property of gripping the Wearers foot and of thus improving the shoe-fitting and 3,333,353 Patented Aug. 1, 1967 lasting to a unit consisting of the lining and the upper.

The outer contour of the base of the stiffener may be made to conform to the normal last shaping and be defined at least in the heel region by a clearly exhibited line or edge.

The average width of the stop opening in the heel region is preferably not substantially greater and may be less than onehalf of the maximum width of the said outer contour of the heel zone.

In order that the invention may be the more readily understood reference will hereinafter be made by way of example to FIGS. 1 to 6 of the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of acombined insole waist and heel stiffener according to the invention and FIG. 2 is a section thereof on the line A-A of FlGrl.

FIG. 3 is an underneath plan.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view and FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line BB of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view FIGS. 3 and 4.

The unit illustrated comprises a resilient heel wall or counter l, a stiff base comprising the heel seat 2 and insole waist portion 3. Embedded in the base is a metal, preferably steel, stiffening shank 4 which .may, if desired, be provided with holes or the like to receive members for attaching the heel. The forward edge of the insole waist is tapered to a thin edge in the manner of a normal skived edge.

The heel wall or counter l, which is of a resilient character extends around the heel and also along the sides of the instep and is such as to form an abnormally small top opening 8, which can be seen particularly well in FIG. 4. Taking the heel region of the base as the rear half of the distance between the line X--X across the narrowest part of the insole waist and the rear line Z-Z (FIG. 3), i.e., forwardly terminating on the line Y-Y, the average width of the top opening 8 in this heel region is less than one-half the maximum internal width W (FIG. 4) of the stiffener in the heel region. The said wall in cross section gradually reduces in thickness to the top opening and rises outwardly from the periphery of the base, i.e., from 9 and lit) in FIGS. 2 and 6, the wall can flex outwards from near the said periphery and so that its inner surface makes a smooth curve outwardly therefrom and then curves inwardly at its top margins 6, 7 around the sides of the heel and the instep as indicated to the top opening and at least to substantially the narrowest part XX of the base with the top opening gradually widening forwardly from the heel region as is more clearly shown in FIG. 4. In the illustrated example, the internal dimension W of the heel Wall or counter on the line A-A FIG, 4, upon which FIG. 2 is taken, is approximately 2%" while the distance. across the top opening on this line is approximately 1 while from the line YY to the rear of the heel the average width of the top opening may be approximately only or even less.

The unit is moulded from polythene or other suitable synthetic plastic material.

While the inner surface of the stiffener may be shaped as described substantially to form to the shape of the on the line X-X of human foot, the outer contour of the base of the stiifener may conform to a normal last and be defined by a clearly exhibited line or edge, see the edge E marked in P16. 3.

Preferably the average width of the top opening in the heel region, i.e., from the line Y-Y to the line Z'Z is not substantially more than one-half of the maximum width in the heel region across the so defined outer contour of the base.

What I claim is:

A combined insole waist and heel stiffener for use in the manufacture of boots, shoes and like footwear which stiffener has been injection moulded of a synthetic plastic material and has set to form a unit, said unit comprising a stiff relatively thick arched base constituting the heel seat and insole waist and a resilient wall which extends around the heel and also along the sides of the instep and is such as to form an abnormally small top opening, the said wall in cross-section gradually reducing in thickness to the said top opening and rising outwardly from the periphery of the said base, its inner surface rising outwardly from the said periphery around the heel and both sides of the instep with a smooth curve; said wall then curving inwardly around both sides of the heel and the instep to the top opening, said cross-sectional shaping extending from the heel at least to substantially the narrowest part of the base; the said wall in the instep region bulging outwardly to a considerably greater extent at one side of the base than at the opposite side in the region of the instep and then turning inwardly the outer contour of said base being demarcated from the outer surface of the said wall at least in the heel region by a clearly exhibited edge; the average width of the said abnormally small top opening in the heel region being not substantially greater than one-half of the maximum width of the heel zone as defined by said outer contour; and the said top opening gradually widening forwardly from the heel region; the said wall requiring elastic expansion before the foot can seat properly on the said arched base in order to give to the footwear embodying the stiffener the property of elastically gripping round the heel and forwardly thereof into the instep region and to preserve the original shape of the footwear.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,412,773 12/1946 Herlihy 3668 3,068,872 12/1962 Brody 128595 20 3,145,486 8/1964 Petalas 36-76 X FOREIGN PATENTS 939,387 10/1963 Great Britain.

25 JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

H. H. HUNTER, Assistant Examiner. 

